As you all know, this is heavily a technology-related site. But since my family decided to go on a road trip for 10 days to visit different places in Luzon, Philippines, I will loosen up and will be switching the subject matter from tech to travel.

Two days ago at around 3.30 a.m., we started our journey in Manila. From there, we drove for 6 hours (with breakfast stop-over) to Our Lady of Manaoag church in Pangasinan. Since it was Sunday, we attended a holy mass there, and as expected saw thousands of devotees flocking to see the image of the miraculous lady.

From Pangasinan (stopped for lunch in San Fernando), we went to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vigan. We arrived at about 3.30 p.m. and checked-in at Aniceto Mansion. –It is a very old house (rather creepy) that is converted into a mini-hotel.

Vigan is the oldest surviving Spanish colonial city in the Philippines. There you will see well-preserved valuable remains of old Spanish architecture. We explored different parts of the city the old-fashioned way via kalesa (horse-driven carriage). Seeing ancient houses, streets, and churches brought that feeling of nostalgia.

Below are the photos I’ve taken using my simple but very handy digital camera, a Sony T9 Cybershot:

An old bell tower just beside St. Augustine Church

A statue of a famous poet during the Spanish era

An old phone inside a museum

There’s also a small zoo/park in Vigan called Baluarte, and it was easily my son’s favorite spot. A wide variety of animals like camels, deers, ostriches, tigers, snakes, different species of birds, and dinosaurs can be seen there.

Up-close and personal with an ostrich

One of the 5 tigers that we saw

A deer as our tour guide

Dinosaurs!

After spending two days and one night in Vigan, we traveled for another 6 hours to Baguio City. We arrived last night and will be here for 5 days to spend the Holy Week. I’m glad I brought my Smart Wireless broadband kit with me because we are staying in a place without internet connection.

We are currently staying in this haunted house

Stay tuned for my next post for quick updates about our next adventure :-)